Power. Ambition. Greed.

It is often stated that the presence of these calamitous traits

inevitably leads to immense guilt and insanity. In William Shakespeare’s widely-acclaimed work
Macbeth, ​Shakespeare vividly encapsulates the notion that power, ambition, greed, and the
horrendous acts that result from them lead to guilt and eventual madness. In the play, Macbeth’s
character encounters tremendous change, going from a loyal man who fought bravely for his king to
a regicidal power-hungry maniac. This great shift of character undoubtedly unfolds and develops
the theme of how guilt will unavoidably lead to mania. This is continuously portrayed through
Shakespeare’s usage of literary devices such as imagery, characterization, and symbolism, along
with Macbeth’s progression as a dynamic, changing character, throughout the play.

To begin with, Shakespeare uses imagery and Macbeth’s own explicit thoughts to portray
Macbeth’s first step into a domain of madness, even before he reluctantly murdered King Duncan.
But although Macbeth was very ambitious at the beginning of the play when he heard the 3 Witches’
prophecy for the first time, he was incredibly reluctant to murder King Duncan. In Scene 7 of Act 1,
Macbeth internally debates the killing of the King, relentlessly arguing with himself on why he
shouldn’t murder Duncan. Later, he manages to urge himself not to kill the king, stating: “We will
proceed no further in this business...”(1.7, 34). These few lines show that Macbeth feels, in fact,
indebted to the King. The King had just bestowed a title upon him, essentially giving him a lot of
honor. For this, Macbeth feels gratitude and hence, could not bear the guilt of murdering an
innocent who had rewarded him greatly. Because Macbeth wanted to murder Duncan simply to
satisfy Macbeth’s own ambitions and not because Duncan was a bad king or evil person, it further
emphasizes how the guilt of regicide would be significantly harder to withstand. Nevertheless, in
the end, although Macbeth does have dubious feelings, Lady Macbeth manages to convince him of
committing the murder of King Duncan. But this initial guilt—the guilt of possibly killing King
Duncan—is already there and starts to take a toll on Macbeth’s mind. This is illustrated by
Shakespeare’s use of imagery to emphasize the hallucinations Macbeth faced after murdering King
Duncan in cold blood. In Scene 2 of Act 2, Macbeth states: ““Macbeth does murder sleep”—the
innocent sleep…. Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,”(2.2, 47-50). In this quotation, it is
shown that Macbeth is fantasizing about voices screaming to him that as he had murdered someone
in their peaceful slumber(King Duncan), Macbeth, himself, will never be able to sleep again. This is
emphasized through vivid descriptions of how sleep is “innocent” and sleep essentially “knits up”
one’s mind. Through this description, because Macbeth is imagining voices, it is implied that
Macbeth feels guilty of committing this murder, while that guilt is causing Macbeth to start delving
into the dark realm of insanity, further supporting the theme that guilt will inevitably cause lunacy.

As the play continues, Shakespeare further highlights the theme through Macbeth’s growing
insanity by implicitly and explicitly depicting how Macbeth’s actions are solely driven by his lust for
power, leading to guilt. In scene 3 of Act 3, Macbeth commits his second muder–the killing of his
closest friend, Banquo. As a result of the Three Witches’ prophecy which stated that Banquo’s
descendants will be kings, it seemed as though Macbeth felt threatened by Banquo and his son
Fleance, and hence went on to order their killings. This murder, just by itself, goes on to emphasize
Macbeth’s paranoia of remaining as King, hence taking measures to exterminate all those who
seemingly stand against him. King Duncan’s murder was one thing, but Macbeth killing his closest
and most loyal companion? This bloody decision by Macbeth presents the extent of the effect
ambition plays on one’s mind, siphoning out the worst of people, and at the same time causing a
complete disregard for the repercussions of those actions, which often result in guilt. Macbeth’s
guilt, after his soldiers had murdered Banquo, was represented by yet another hallucination,
Banquo’s ghost. When Macbeth first sees Banquo’s ghost, he dives into an ocean of panic and regret.
He says to the ghost, “Though canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me”(3.4, 61-62).
Here, Macbeth is explicitly denying any involvement in Banquo’s murder by stating that, in
technical terms, although he did order the murder, he did not partake in the killing itself, which also
shows why Macbeth ordered his friend’s murder, instead of committing the act himself. It can be
assumed that Macbeth believed that if he indirectly ordered Banquo’s killing, he wouldn’t
necessarily be the man committing the crime, and therefore, he shouldn’t feel any guilt or remorse.
But inevitably, he was wrong. Macbeth was so racked up with guilt that he deceived himself into
thinking that Banquo’s ghost was, in fact, real, regardless of the fact that no one else in the room
could see any ghost, further establishing that the apparition was simply a result of Macbeth’s
declining mental health and choices fueled by ambition. In the end, Macbeth’s deluded encounter
with Banquo’s ghost further demonstrates how murderous actions motivated by ambition, lead to
immense regret and the continuous deterioration of one’s mental state.

Finally, toward the end of the play, Shakespeare heightens the theme one last time with
Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, by emphasizing the symbolistic nature of her quotes and actions,
which were yet another example of the destructive effect of guilt on the mind. Lady Macbeth goes
through an enormous change throughout the play. In the beginning, she was gladly willing to
ruthlessly carry out any tasks for her and her husband’s gain. In fact, while Macbeth, was going
through an internal conflict on the killing of King Duncan, she was the one who, in the end,
persuaded Macbeth to perform the bloody act of regicide. These traits of Lady Macbeth initially
gave the audience the impression that she was ambitious, cruel, and merciless to a very great
extent. However, as with Macbeth, the guilt and regret of committing such actions eventually caught
up to her–albeit, in the form of sleepwalking. In Act 5, Scene 1, lines 38-40, while Lady Macbeth is
sleepwalking, she recounts actions she had committed in the past, for example, the killing of King
Duncan, and it is evident that even in her dazed, sleepy state, that she is guilty. To support this
claim, Lady Macbeth goes as far as repeatedly and continuously washing her hands–over and over
again– with herself stating that she is trying to wash a specific area on her hands. This symbolically
represents how she is trying to clean herself of the guilt that has essentially possessed her, playing a
disastrous effect on her mind. But she is unable to wash away anything, showing how guilt and
regret cannot be simply removed through physical actions. Lady Macbeth’s remorse is so ingrained
in her mind that it is completely destroying her. Somewhat like Macbeth, she deludes herself into
thinking that there is a specific spot on her hands that she seems to not be able to wash out, which,
in reality, is simply another hallucination that she had inadvertently created as a result of her failing
mental condition. Eventually, her guilt and sorrow are too much handle and she commits suicide.
Lady Macbeth’s involvement in this act, however small it may seem, further shows again how the
lust for ambition and power, will in the end cause one’s demise, through the erratic buildup of guilt
and mania.
 To conclude, throughout the play, Shakespeare brings about the theme that ambition, greed,
and the horrendous acts that result from these attributes, all lead to guilt and eventual madness.
This is mainly portrayed through the development of Macbeth, the play’s protagonist, who goes
through immense change, from a loyal, brave soldier to a murderous, power-hungry maniac whose
guilt-fueled madness seeds his demise. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth’s small role in also
showing the effect of ruthlessness on guilt and madness focuses the spotlight out of Macbeth and
onto the world and the people around him. Lady Macbeth’s involvement allows for the theme to
really be overarching, emphasizing that anyone could go through what Macbeth went through.
Regardless of how evil or pure you are, once ambition secures a grip, it doesn’t let go. Until all that
is left is a mere shadow of your past self.